The Darkest Shadow
by owl-soldier
Summary: A new mission to face the deadly Sasuke Uchiha puts Shikamaru's leadership to the test. He enlists the firece Temari; and Ino whom is still pining after Sasuke... but what will happen when Shadow clashes with Lightning? ShikaInoTema: CHAP 5 UP! NAKEDNESS
1. Shikamaru's Intervention

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic is going to contain plenty of action, but also drama. It'll have both ShikaIno and ShikaTema moments; I think it's good to explore both sides of the pairing war, heh heh heh! But who will Shikamaru actually end up with? You'll have to read to find out! Temari and Ino will clash with Shikamaru as well as each other; I think poor Neji will end up getting tired of the lot of them... xDD; Don't forget thet they'll have to battle Sasuke- How will that work out? He's deadly... Can Shadow overcome Lightning?**

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The Darkest Shadow

Chapter One: Shikamaru's Intervention

Battering down from the heavens came a downpour of torrential rain, heavier than it had been in almost a year. The clouds seemed to contain a force of fury not unlike the many gods of nature. Watching it from the shade of the ancient, twisting tree with leaves that were broad and in the full green of summer, Shikamaru could not help but feel a certain dread steal over him. It had been a little over a month since the death of his beloved teacher; Asuma, and now with the initial fire of vengeance truly dampened by the summer rains he was feeling the weight of what he had taken on. Not only did he have a sacred duty towards Kurenai and her unborn baby but he also had a responsibility to lead his precious team mates, Ino and Chouji. He sighed heavily and twisted the cigarette that he held in his hand, watching the smoke dance lazily in the shade of the tree to dissipate into the grey afternoon sky. Life was not going to be easy, he knew it… And the rising of tomorrow's sun would only bring more burdens… He stubbed the cigarette out on the damp bark of the tree, watching the ash tumble down into the grass.

Stretching his arms up behind his head, Shikamaru leaned back against the mossy trunk of the tree, closing his eyes to listen to the tender rushing sound of the rain against the treetops. The air was cold and clear, perfectly calm with only a little wind. Tomorrow he had a mission to attend to; one that would no doubt be dangerous and had a huge potential to go wrong: A couple of days ago, Sasuke… had been spotted near Sunagakure, and the Sand Village had sent a messenger to the Hokage straight away. Temari herself had reported that a whole squad of Sand ninja had been killed. The high ranking Leaf ninja were worried that Sasuke was after his old team mates, or that he might be gathering followers for an attack on Konoha. Tomorrow's mission was strictly intelligence gathering, and he was to avoid fighting at all costs. Sasuke was too dangerous. It was Shikamaru's job to lead a squad there, try to figure out what his aim was and report back to the Hokage. It sounded simple, but of course it was going to turn out to be extremely complicated. He had chosen his squad carefully… And he only hoped that he would be able to protect them, if necessary… he would defend their lives with his own.

A small rustling made him sit up straight and open his eyes, spotting a girl clad in a black raincoat and carrying a large umbrella over her head to protect her long, blonde hair from the heavy rain. She made her way towards him through the wet grass as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Ah, Ino" he said, "You're earlier than I expected, what gives?"

She took down her umbrella as she stepped under the wide canopy of leaves and shook it out gently.

"Chouji told me it was important and that it was a secret… So secret he didn't even know himself". She looked at him expectantly with barely concealed excitement in her eyes.

"Ah, you wanted to be in on the secret, your curiosity was so strong that it sprung you into action right away!" He laughed softly. "Well I'm sure you won't be disappointed. This is an extremely important and top secret mission that I'm leading, and I need you in my squad".

Ino gave him a sunny look, looking very pleased and a little surprised.

"Shika-kun, you really think that I am so important to the success of this mission?"

Shikamaru took a few steps towards her away from the trunk of the tree, and regarded her with a very serious expression on his face.

"You must promise me that you will not repeat what I'm about to tell you to anyone, nobody but the squad allocated to this mission can know what it concerns, do you understand?"

His face was stony, and that saddened her; recently she had too often seen Shikamaru with such a cloudy aura about him. She knew her friend was burdened by the weight of his position as an elite Konoha ninja, sometimes she wished she could help him with that, but she knew he would share the weight with no-one else, not even his best friend Chouji. However, he obviously felt that he could trust her, and that in itself was something important. She nodded solemnly and looked Shikamaru in the eyes, her own reflecting his serious look.

"I promise, Shikamaru".

"This is an intelligence mission; your jutsu will come in handy for this… And it will be difficult; your medical skills may be needed to save lives…." Shikamaru took a deep breath, and broke his eye contact with Ino, instead looking out over the Leaf Village. "Our mission is to figure out the intentions of a dangerous foe; and that foe… is Sasuke".

Ino gasped loudly, and he turned back to her, his face as cold as before. He could see her struggling internally to come to terms with the prospect of seeing Sasuke again, and this time seeing him as a threat to the Village. Ino leaned down, her hair throwing a shadow across her eyes and began to twist her hands together in agitation.

"Shikamaru… you're saying he is our enemy? Sasuke is a shinobi of the Leaf Village… He is our ally, our fr-"

"No", his voice cut across hers, sharp and frosty. "Sasuke is a threat to the lives of our comrades. The lives of too many have been endangered because of him, including Chouji and I; and yet he has no conscience about that… He does not care. He does not have mercy. He attacked his own team mates with the intention to kill! He is _not_ our friend".

She looked up at Shikamaru with a glint of anger in her eyes, and she clenched her fists, stepping towards him.

"How dare you! You hypocrite! You said two years ago that the way of the Leaf was to bring back our comrade who had strayed, you said-"

"I also said that I did not care for Sasuke" he said coldly. "And obviously he has no care for any of his fellow Leaf ninjas who have risked their lives for him".

"He never asked you to!" she shouted, her voice becoming more enraged. She could hardly believe her ears, what he was saying now was completely contrary to what he had said before; he was being unreasonable… Shikamaru took hold of her wrist firmly and stared her down.

"Ino… It's time to let go of your stupid, girlish fantasies. We're not in school anymore; we're talking about life and death situations. Sasuke has never cared about you and he never will". She stared at him, her blue eyes wide with shock.

-SLAP-

He made no move to avoid the strike; Ino yanked her arm out of his grip and struck his face again, and again, and again. She felt a momentary hatred for the boy in front of her, who had shattered her dreams of the past and threw them back in her face; she had known Shikamaru since childhood and he had always been a friend to her, to comfort her, to protect her and to guide her. He was lazy at times and annoying too but she had loved him in a way. Now, he had turned her heart cold. She pummelled his chest, and began to sob with anger and despair.

"Shikamaru… how could you…?" she sobbed, pain evident in her voice. Suddenly his arms came up around her and he pulled her roughly to his chest; causing her to struggle furiously for a moment.

"That's it" he said, his voice soft. "Take out all your anger and pain on me".

Ino shuddered and fought against him for a moment, then gave up, leaning against him and let herself cry. Shikamaru was right, though she was too proud to admit it; all the years of fighting for Sasuke's attention had been in vain, and knowing this left her feeling hollow and wasted. She gripped Shikamaru's vest tightly, and wondered why he'd said this to her now, perhaps he had grown tired of waiting for her to realise the facts for herself… Even so, she still felt love for him, a strange, twisted love that stabbed through her heart and twisted it like a bitter needle.

She felt Shikamaru's hand on her spine, and the other on the back of her head; it was a scene she had often imagined with Sasuke… And yet it was not Sasuke whose arms were wrapped around her now, she had never hugged Shikamaru like this before and she was surprised and confused by his gesture. Perhaps it was to restrain her from further bouts of hitting; yes… that sounded just like him; utilising an action that was both advantageous to him and comforting to her. Ino sobbed forcefully into his chest, mourning her love of Sasuke and even the hurt that her friend was putting her through by making her face up to the reality of it... Eventually, her sobs were quieting down and she could hear the rush of the rain against the leaves again; she buried her face into his chest a little, leaving teardrops on the fabric of his vest; for the first time she could hear his heartbeat. It was slow, and steady… she couldn't help but think that it felt relaxed… if heartbeats could have such characteristics, she would almost call it lazy.

Shikamaru was relieved that Ino seemed to have calmed down; that woman could hit like Hell, in fact he could feel his face stinging on both sides where she had slapped him. He wasn't quite sure how he had ended up in this position, he'd expected her to kick him in the balls and storm off like usual but maybe she finally understood. It was highly embarrassing though, to hug her like this… and he was just glad that Chouji couldn't see; he knew what kind of assumptions he would make! This was too close, dangerously close in his opinion… though she did smell quite pleasantly of jasmine…

"Ino, you're so troublesome…" sighed Shikamaru.

"I… I'm sorry Shika-kun…" was her muffled reply, she felt him move and he took hold of her shoulders, pushing her gently away from his body. His eyes watched her carefully for any sign of another attack, but she no longer looked angry, just defeated.

"Listen, I'm sorry for being so harsh with you; it's just that this is so important. I need you to be at your best. Nothing can distract you from this mission, okay?"

Ino wiped her eyes and nodded towards him, noting that he looked rather tired now; there was an apologetic tone in his voice which she suspected meant that he hadn't intended for her to react so badly to what he had to say about Sasuke. Ino stepped back from him, her head bowed meekly as she sat down at the foot of the tree trunk in the place that Shikamaru had previously occupied. He was a little concerned, he had to admit, and had never seen Ino so passive… However she would need time to get over Sasuke, though he hoped not too much time. It was better not to tell her the fact that if they discovered Sasuke did indeed intend to attack the Leaf, and ended up getting caught in battle with him; the Hokage had ordered him to attempt to kill Sasuke.

"Who else is going with us on the mission?" asked Ino suddenly, looking up at him once more, her eyes mercifully absent of tears. Seizing the chance to keep her in a more upbeat mood, he plonked himself down next to her and smiled.

"Ah yes, well I will be leading the mission of course"

"Thought so"

"Then there's you, Ino. Medical ninjutsu is a must in case one of us gets caught up with… the wrong person"

"You're only telling me things I already know, who else is going?" she demanded, looking irritated.

"… Hyuga Neji will be joining us. His Byakugan will locate Sasuke easily; plus he has excellent close-combat skills… should it ever come to that"

"I don't need a big explanation about everything, jeez Shika-baka…"

He sighed. "Temari"

Ino looked around at him quickly, her eyes narrowed in confusion; now she was truly interested. "Temari what!"

"Oh, so now you want explanations?" he smirked.

She elbowed him forcefully in the ribs, causing him to slip over and stick his hand in the mud to keep himself upright.

"Urgh, Ino!"

"Shikamaru, answer me! Why is _she_ coming along with us?"

Scraping the mud off his hand onto the bark, he looked at her, a slightly defiant expression on his face as if he was daring her to challenge him.

"I specifically asked for her to join us once I knew she was in Konoha… She's got damn good long distance fighting skills, plus she's pretty smart… which, along with Neji and I boosts the brainpower of this cell to above genius level…heh! What…? Don't you like her?"

Ino glared at him as if she wanted to hit him again, it seemed that his tactic to make her forget about Sasuke was to enrage her into distraction. She had already almost forgotten their tender moment earlier. Choosing to ignore his question about Temari, she leaned her head against the great tree trunk.

"… So, we're supposed to figure out what …Sasuke's… aim is" she said, her tongue stumbling over the name slightly.

"Yes" Shikamaru replied simply, looking up at the sky which was now a shade or two darker than when Ino had arrived, but still awash with heavy rain. "It's going to be an early start tomorrow so I suggest you get a lot of good sleep tonight"

"Mmmm" she mumbled, seeming distracted.

Shikamaru stood up, stretched his arms and then turned to face her, holding out his hand. "Ino, I need you to stick with me 'til the very end. That's what it means to be a team; we're gonna try our best to complete this mission for the protection of Konoha… The Will of Fire is ours now, right?"

She smiled sadly, picturing the ghost of Asuma standing behind Shikamaru; and extended her own hand to take hold of Shikamaru's. He pulled her to her feet and she studied his face for a moment; his eyes had a hint of hard determination to them and his mouth was a grim line.

"It is" she said proudly. "But you've got to smile a little more, you know? Asuma- sensei did it often…"

"I'll try" said Shikamaru, the corner of his mouth twitching. He realised that he was still holding Ino's hand, and let go immediately as if she were an exploding tag.

"Sorry, I've got a lot of things to go over tonight; I'll see you at dawn tomorrow at the gates" he spoke rather quickly, and Ino thought that he really must be in a hurry; because he immediately sprinted off in the direction of his house without even pausing to navigate the many puddles; leaving Ino standing alone under the tree.

Her heart was heavy with thoughts of Sasuke... Despite what Shikamaru had said she couldn't help but hang on to the faint hope that if he saw her again... Ino shook her head sadly, and an image of Shikamaru suddenly popped into her head, laughing with her at a stupid thing Chouji had done. Those carefree days were behind them now, and she mourned for them too. At least Ino knew that she, Chouji and Shikamaru would continue to be together as a team, although she was very dissapointed that Chouji wasn't in their cell for this mission, at least then she'd have someone else to talk to. After all, Shikamaru could get tiring sometimes, that Neji just plain creeped her out... And she felt a somewhat surprising dislike of Temari that she couldn't quite place. She sighed and put up her umbrella again as she began her slower paced walk back to her house, watching Shikamaru's outline become less distinguishable against the grey sky until he disappeared completely. For some reason, she could tell that tomorrow's mission was not going to be an enjoyable one…

*****My first Fanfiction on here :3 Will write more Chapters once I see if people actually like it...I hope you guys like it though! I love Shikamaruuu! Still not sure whether I like the idea of pairing him up yet, heh heh... Let's see how he gets on with Ino and Temari... PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW! I would like to know if what you would like to see in the next Chapters!**

**I don't own this series or any of the characters; 'Naruto' and all characters from that series are (c) to Masashi Kishimoto.*****


	2. Desert Rose and Lilly of the Valley

The Darkest Shadow

Chapter Two: Desert Rose and Lilly of the Valley

The sunlight had barely touched the edges of the great buildings of Konoha when Ino got up. She groaned inwardly, cursing Shikamaru and his insistence on early starts. In fact she practically had to drag herself out of bed, and went about her morning routine in a stupor. By the time she was halfway down her street she had wakened enough to appreciate the beauty of the rising sun, tinting everything beneath it in a pinkish glow; she couldn't help but feel hopeful… Perhaps this beauty was a good omen for their mission. Neji had reached the meeting point first; he looked like he'd been there for a while since he appeared to be engrossed in reading a scroll.

"Hey, Neji" she called to him. "What're you doing?"

"Reading up on the Chidori techniques" he replied without looking up. "Uchiha uses them a lot so I figured I should learn how powerful they are"  
Oh… Ino hadn't thought of anything like that, perhaps she should have been doing research last night instead of thinking about what she'd say to Sasuke when she met him.

Neji finally looked up at her after finishing what he was reading. She felt rooted to the spot, his pale, unreadable eyes scared her a little and she couldn't help but feel they could see right through her.

"You look nice, I take it you chose your outfit carefully?"

His voice had a scornful edge, which Ino ignored. In fact she had picked her outfit well; a black one with some fishnet that accented her curves in all the right places, whilst being comfortable and easy to move in. She sat on the wall next to him to read the scroll over his shoulder; Neji passed it to her, having already finished it and got to his feet, staring intently off into the distance over the rooftops.

"Red sky…" he muttered softly. "Blood shall be spilled on this day".

Ino shuddered and tried to ignore him, feeling irked that she had to hang out with this creep for the next… however long it took to find Sasuke. There was still no sign of Shikamaru, so she and Neji stayed by the gate, each wrapped up in their own thoughts; in fact as the minutes ticked by Ino began to think that he had forgotten all about the mission, that or slept in… lazy bastard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neji turn and fix his gaze on the hot-springs building, causing her to look up as well just in time to see Shikamaru round the corner in deep conversation with Sabaku no Temari.

So _this_ was why he was late… Ino narrowed her eyes, wondering what on earth could be so interesting that his eyes never left her face. She was talking animatedly and although she never gestured with her hands, all the expression was on her face. For his part, Shikamaru nodded and replied every so often; once patting her shoulder in a friendly sort of way. The _nerve_ of them, leaving her here with creepy Neji whilst they discussed important things!

Neji was watching Ino now; her arms were folded tightly across her chest and she tapped her foot against the wall she was sitting on. Her forehead creased in a frown and her lips were pursed ever so slightly. Aggression, agitation and annoyance; he thought with a smirk. Someone wasn't too pleased to see those two.

"Ah, Neji and Ino!" exclaimed Shikamaru warmly. "Sorry we're a little late; Temari had an update from Sunagakure. It seems that Sasuke is probably further away than we originally thought, so we're now ahead of schedule". He winked at them. "It means I can take the time to fill you in on my strategies".

Ino stared. Did Shikamaru just _wink_ at them? What an ass… He looked slightly smug as well, with his hands in his pockets and his pack over one shoulder.

"You're awfully chirpy this morning Shika-baka…" stated Ino dryly.

"It's a nice day today" he said, an ambiguous smile playing on his lips. "And I've devised several plans that I think will work".

Neji's expression was slightly mocking as he took his scroll back from Ino and rolled it up; stuffing it in his own pack.

"I just hope your confidence is not misplaced"

Shikamaru shook his head, knowing full well that there was no point in rising to the bait. He was too busy thinking about what they were about to attempt to worry about Neji's passive-aggressive nature. The team had to perceive their leader as confident, it was good for morale. Knowing that there was no point in hanging around, he turned at once and started to walk away from the gates of Konoha; to the forest and the beginning of their mission. Neji followed him without a word, heaving his pack higher up on his back and staring ahead with his ever calm expression.

"I'm surprised to find you here, I'll admit" said Temari in a low tone to Ino as they both set off after the boys.

Ino turned around, raising an eyebrow, already beginning to form a defensive retort in her mind.

"Oh really?"

Temari nodded, sliding her fingers over the straps holding her giant fan to her body.

"Well, he told me this mission is incredibly dangerous, possibility of serious injury or death if we're not careful" the Sand kunoichi's hard, blue eyes met Ino's. "You seem like a fragile little flower to me; what's his intention, bringing you on this mission with us? You're likely to get hurt or get in the way".

Ino was stung by this remark, and studied the other girl's face. Although it seemed like she was genuinely confused, her attitude was rather rude and Ino didn't care for her blunt manner.

"Shika-kun…" she said, emphasising the latter part, "…has complete confidence in my abilities and knows that I am the best one for the job; and that's why I am on this mission. He _needs_ me".

Temari gave her a look that clearly said: whatever-you-say-then, and turned her eye to the back of Shikamaru's head.

"I know he's smart and all, but I could swear he doesn't know what he's doing half the time…"

"That's the mystery of Shika-kun" smirked Ino. "He plays the lazy fool but he's really always thinking three or more steps ahead"

Temari rolled her eyes at the blonde. One minute Shikamaru was a _baka_, the next, he was "_Shika-kun"_. She was seriously annoyed to be stuck with her, everything about Ino annoyed Temari; from her obviously carefully-chosen outfit to her brash personality. She could not understand how Shikamaru had been able to endure being her team mate for so many years. The man had the patience of a stone! Besides, Temari knew Shikamaru was smart; if he wasn't she'd never have been able to forgive herself for almost losing to him in the Chunin exams. That Ino though; she truly could not see what Shikamaru saw in her. As far as Temari was concerned, she was just going to be a hindrance to the mission, and made a mental note to broach the subject with their leader at the first opportunity.

By the time the party of four stopped, the sun was high in the sky and the forest was alive with birds and insects. There were clouds lurking in the distance, promising rain later in the evening. That suited Shikamaru just fine, as it would cover their tracks and make it difficult for anyone to trace their path. Shikamaru swung his pack down and dropped it at the roots of a small tree and the other three followed suit.

"So, Nara… What's the plan?" asked Neji, typically cutting straight to the point.

Shikamaru sighed and sat down, bringing out a box of bento from his pack. He took his time, opening the box and snapping his chopsticks, murmuring "Itadakimasu" and eating a little of the rice. Everyone else stayed on their feet and watched him, until he looked up.

"Sit down, everyone; I can't eat when I feel like I'm on display"

They sat, Neji making a barely audible _tsk _sound, Temari positioning herself against the tree beside Shikamaru, and Ino in front of him, wondering why he was eating instead of telling them his plans.

"Eat. If we are at all being watched, we want to fool them into thinking we have just stopped for lunch"

They did as they were told and brought out their lunch too, though they were still concentrating on Shikamaru with great curiosity. It was a few minutes before he spoke suddenly.

"You three know about Shogi, don't you?"

"Vaguely" said Temari, scratching her head and wondering what this had to do with anything.

"I know the basic principles" nodded Neji, smiling a little; here he was about to witness some of Nara Shikamaru's eccentric genius.

"Of course, I watched you kick Asuma-sensei's ass at Shogi all the time". Ino thought she could tell where he was going with this.

Shikamaru looked pleased, and he nodded slowly.

"In Shogi, I am the Knight. He moves in ways that are unexpected and sometimes difficult to see; the opponent often misses his intentions because of being to pre-occupied with the other, more obvious pieces… Tactically, the Knight is useful, but unfortunately the other side knows this and will try to take him at the earliest opportunity"

He brandished his chopsticks at Neji; who frowned a little in distaste at the strip of meat hanging from them.

"You, Hyuga Neji are the Gold General- A close combat fighter who is useful for moving forward; but your blind spot means you need other pieces at your back to avoid being taken"

Neji nodded in acknowledgement to this, and Temari looked up as Shikamaru's eyes met hers.

"Temari, you are the Bishop. Better at long distance, and never making a full frontal attack. The Bishop is a great tool to manoeuvre the opponent's pieces to where he wants them to be in order to take them with less sustained losses"

Ino's stomach clenched a little, everyone else was assigned such a useful piece and she was starting to worry about what she could be; a pawn? Only good for the sacrifice of the other pieces? Shikamaru's onyx eyes locked on hers, and he smiled, sensing her fears.

"Ino, you are the Lance. You are weak defensively, but mount a full-frontal attack capable of long or short distance. The Lance is one who takes pieces that the player has moved, when the opponent is concentrating on avoiding the varied movements of the other pieces, the Lance strikes with steely fury… heh heh heh…"

Temari laid her hand on his arm to draw his attention to her; he turned and found himself inches away from her.

"Hm?"

"The metaphors are all well and good, but how do you intend to put these into practice exactly?" she asked, with a slight frown.

Shikamaru reached into his pack again and handed them each a scroll, glad that they had taken so well to his utilization of Shogi as a metaphor.

"Read these, they contain several strategies I've come up with. You will understand what I said much better afterwards"

As the other three read over his scrolls, Shikamaru finished his bento and stretched out against the tree, enjoying the sweet scent of its blossoms drifting down towards his nose, and the soft swish of the leaves in the gentle wind. He was still very alert about the dangers of this mission, and he was absolutely not about to get complacent and falsely confident in his plans; he knew that they could all go wrong, and so he had to be prepared for anything. He had neglected to tell that if necessary he would have to let himself be taken in order to ensure escape and the completion of this important mission. In Shogi, the King was the most important piece, and he was represented by the continuing life in Konoha, the new generation.

Temari was the first to finish, and she leaned over Shikamaru, poking him on the forehead; his eyes opened to find her steely blue ones close to his own. She was regarding him with an uncharacteristic admiration. His cheeks turned a little pink as he realised that she was too close to him.

"What?"

"I hate to say it, but you're one smart guy"

Coming from her, this was enthusiastic praise, so he took hold of her shoulders and pushed her back a little, sitting up straighter himself.

"Is that a compliment, Temari-chan?"

She laughed, and took hold of his wrists to remove them from her shoulders.

"Just maybe" she replied, then a glint of anger crossed her eye, and she stared him down. "But _don't_ call me 'Temari-chan' ….."

Ino had looked up from her scroll in time to catch this little interaction, and she was not amused. That Sabaku no Temari… she was _flirting_ with Shikamaru! Flirting! Who on earth did she think she was? And he seemed to be enjoying it. Ugh! Not that she actually cared or anything… Just that it seemed so inappropriate seeing as they were on such an important mission. There was nothing wrong with Ino thinking that a certain snarky Sand kunoichi should get her grubby paws off of her friend, was there? She was merely thinking of Shikamaru. He was a passive man, and Temari was so overbearing she was sure to take advantage of him. Ino moved quickly over to Shikamaru and unceremoniously shoved Temari aside with a careless "Excuse me!" before wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Oooh, Shika-kun! What amazing strategies; there's no way we can lose with you as our leader!" she cooed at him, with a big smile on her face.

Temari was furious and thought that if they weren't in the same cell, she would crack that Ino over the head with her oversized fan. What a nerve she had, Temari did not tolerate disrespect very well.

"Watch what you're doing" she spat at Ino. "And keep your voice down, stupid; we're supposed to be incognito"

Ino ignored her and continued to cuddle Shikamaru.

"Mendokuse…" groaned Shikamaru. Suddenly he was getting too much attention from women and he was not sure if he liked it at all, he could see Neji laughing silently a few feet away, obviously finding the whole thing hilarious. Shikamaru patted Ino's back and then tried to gently prod her off of him.

"Let me get that for you" said Temari in a cheery tone, grabbing Ino and hauling her off the bemused Shikamaru.

The two women stood there, drawing daggers at each other and it looked as if they were getting ready to fight; Shikamaru jumped in between them, not in the mood for this kind of troublesome attitude.

"Calm down, girls. I don't need you killing each other before we reach Sasuke…"

Neji had silently watched all of this, and was getting a little annoyed. It seemed that Shikamaru had made an error in forming this cell, he had not perceived the competitive instinct of two girls with clashing personalities. Perhaps, half of the battle would be getting them to co-operate. Suddenly Neji felt a shift in the energy of the forest, and formed a seal with his hands; "Byakugan" he muttered, and surveyed the area. It was as he feared. Something was moving fast towards them from the East; it was too far away to have seen them yet; but he knew he had to move quickly.

"Everybody hide" Neji's voice was low but urgent and it caused the other three to pay attention immediately.

Temari and Neji leaped into the high branches of a tall tree nearby; where the leaves acted as cover. Shikamaru grabbed Ino's arm and leaped into another one, standing on the crook of two branches, he held his finger to his lips. The four waited anxiously to see what would happen. A rustling of bushes about fifty metres away announced the arrival of… Something with a very aggressive chakra!

"Mmmm… I smell blood…" came it's high, bone-chilling voice.

*****Hope you enjoyed this chapter; plenty of antagonism between Ino and Temari; but who do you think will triumph? And who's the mystery figure? Please Review, I shall be grateful :3**

**All characters © Masashi Kishimoto; story by me.*****


	3. A Storm of Shadows

The Darkest Shadow

Chapter Three: A Storm of Shadows

Ugh! How on earth could he have let their guard down…? Shikamaru knew that the only reason they hadn't been caught completely off guard was because of Neji's perceptiveness. He mentally congratulated himself for thinking through the choices for his squad so carefully.

A strange laughter reverberated through the clearing, making him shudder a little, and peering through a tiny gap in the foliage, he could see a figure standing down below; a single figure. Odd… She was tall and with a rather springy build, dressed in a simple, dark tunic which covered her from neck to knee. There was nothing particularly remarkable about her appearance except for her flame-red hair. However, her chakra was so aggressive that he could feel it almost tangibly in the air, and yet… There was something about it that made his skin crawl, something that gave him a feeling of déjà-vu.

He turned to see Ino's cobalt eyes staring intently at him, waiting for him to give an order, he realized. He put his mouth to her ear and whispered, afraid to give away their position.

"Ino… you know what to do. Possess Temari and tell Neji that I want them to engage the enemy; you and I shall sneak around behind her"

She nodded, and Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her waist; ready to take her weight once she performed her jutsu. Ino felt a slight shiver as he touched her, but had no time to dwell on it.

"Mind-Transfer" she whispered, forming a seal with her hands to direct her energy, and then her body went limp against Shikamaru. He held her tightly while gripping the trunk of the tree and watching the movements of the shinobi down in the clearing. He knew that even this early in the game, mistakes could be fatal, and he knew nothing about this person; best to immobilise her as soon as possible.

Neji was peering through the trees with his Byakugan still active, simultaneously watching the female on the ground and his team mates in the tree opposite them. He saw Ino's chakra leave her body, and reached an arm out to steady Temari as she was taken over by surprise.

"Neji" came Ino's voice from Temari's body. "Shikamaru needs you two to distract the enemy while he and I make our move; but please be careful, we have no idea what to expect"

He nodded quickly, then Ino released her jutsu, chakra flowing back into her body. Temari shook her head, confused for a moment.

"What the…?"

"We've to engage the enemy" Neji said to her, before leaping from the tree to the ground. Temari followed suit, landing next to him as the female ninja turned to face them, her dark eyes gleaming.

"Ah" she drawled, licking her lips. "Here are two little mice for Fuyumi to play with. It's a shame we didn't get to play hide and seek…"

Neji stared fixatedly at her with his Byakugan, knowing that they should not allow their enemy an opening to strike.

"I take it you are just a subordinate working for Sasuke… A scout perhaps?"

Fuyumi pouted, and brought out a kunai from her sleeve, eyeing Neji with a somewhat hungry look.

"Where's the fun in telling you that? I'd prefer to just toy around with you for a while"

She made a slight lurch towards her target; and Neji leaped into action.

"Now, Temari!"

"Wind- Style: Blistering Sandstorm!" roared Temari, cracking open her huge fan and swiping it towards Fuyumi.

The cloud of stinging dust it blasted made her shut her eyes in pain, which was the split-second opening Neji needed. Focusing his chakra in his palms; he struck her with several well-placed blows, yet somehow she managed to block them every time. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and dropped to the ground, swiping his leg around towards her ankles; she leaped over this and threw the kunai, which he easily blocked with another blast of chakra. Temari's wind storm faded, and she was now nowhere in sight. Neji smirked; trust Temari to take this opportunity to hide herself.

Fuyumi and Neji now stood facing each other, and the former wore an irritated frown.

"What a coward, hiding like that; I guess you're the only one with balls here…"

"Being a good ninja requires the ability to set traps and use surprise attack. Hiding was her plan from the beginning, heh. I'm no good at sneak attacks so I'll just have to take you head on!" he snarled, leaping towards her and throwing an armful of shuriken. She formed hand-seals for a substitution jutsu and appeared quickly behind Neji, who smirked.

"That won't work on me, I have the perfect defence! Rotation!"

The next moment he was a spinning blur and Fuyumi was knocked backwards by the force of his chakra, but landed on her feet with perfect balance.

"Hmf, they really don't exaggerate the skills of the Hyuga clan…" she muttered. "But I think I have far greater skill…"

Neji scowled, readying himself for another attack. So far, he had not caused significant damage; and he was beginning to wonder what was taking the other three. However, his concentration was centred on Fuyumi as she formed some seals. Neji sprinted towards her, prepared to dodge attacks from any direction.

"Eat this, whelp!" she smirked.

Neji froze, and… nothing.

"What the…?" he began, and then realised with a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach what had just happened. He looked to the ground and his eyes snapped wide open in surprise.

"Shadow Possession technique, success" Fuyumi said smugly, placing her hands on her hips. Neji copied her movements, cursing himself for getting caught; this was completely unexpected. She sensed his confusion and laughed heartily, a kind of laugh that he'd always pictured coming from insane people… and Gaara.

"I am Nara Fuyumi, the sister that the Nara clan never talks about. I was exiled from Konoha for treachery over ten years ago years ago. Remember this face; it's the last you will see". She smiled sweetly and looked Neji in the eye. "Shadow Neck Br- urgh!"

Her jutsu was interrupted by a hail of kunai from the right side, causing her to lose concentration and fail to complete it as several stabbed into her; unfortunately her hold on Neji was still true because as she dodged the next volley he was forced to move along with her.

"Ooooh!" called Fuyumi. "Finally, you're coming out of hiding. Now the real fun begins!"

Along the ground swept a shadow, black as night; thundering towards Fuyumi as she dodged with incredible speed.

"You'll never get me with that, Nara boy; I know that jutsu inside and out!"

"I never intended to" snarled Shikamaru; appearing on her blind side and socking a powerful punch to her face.

Fuyumi flew back, this time sprawling on the ground before she leaped to her feet; wiping a trail of blood from her mouth and smiling through a slightly swollen cheek.

"Impressive, I thought all "true" Nara's were cowardly long distance fighters, like my dear brother Shikaku…"

Ino landed beside Shikamaru with a katana in her grip, and was casting him confused, side-long glances. Neji stood opposite Fuyumi, still trapped in her Shadow Possession and staring intently at Shikamaru. Temari remained silent and unseen.

"You were supposed to be dead!" growled Shikamaru, obviously angered after having recognised their opponent. "I can't believe you had the gall to come anywhere near Konoha, you sneaking bitch!"

"Is it too much to ask to want to see my darling nephew, Shikamaru? Surely your old aunt deserves a more courteous greeting than that". She cast him a deadly glare. "Then again, what should I expect from the clan who battered me and left me for dead all those years ago"

"You deserve all you got, selfish bitch. You tried to decimate your own clan just so that you could gain from it. I haven't forgotten what my father told me; that you passed information to our enemies because you wanted Shikaku out of the way so that _you_ could be head of the Nara clan"

Fuyumi dropped her hurt tone, and a serious expression passed over her face.

"Hah… so Shikaku told you about that… I shouldn't be surprised. No matter, I have always wanted vengeance against my clan… Sasuke promised me that if I joined him. And I _shall_ have my revenge; starting with you!"

Shikamaru was ready for her, and as she broke off another tentacle of her shadow to go after him; he leaped from side to side to avoid her, forming some hand seals as he did so.

"You'll never get me with that, bitch. I know this jutsu inside and out!" he called. "Shadow Sewing Technique!"

Sharp tendrils of Shikamaru's shadow slithered across the ground like many snakes, leaping up into the air as though they were solid; a look of brief surprise crossed Fuyumi's face before she replicated Shikamaru's technique; her own shadow tendrils striking against his. They smashed together again and again, tumbling over each other as each tendril of shadow looked for a way in to strike the caster of the jutsu. As this was going on, Ino had moved closer to Neji, as he mirrored the movements of Fuyumi.

"Neji!" she called to him. "Where the Hell is Temari?

"Ugh! I don't know" grunted Neji, trying by force of will to sever himself from Fuyumi's jutsu; it seemed that she had far more stamina than Shikamaru, as he knew that his leader could only hold onto a possession for a limited amount of time. "This woman has huge reserves of chakra though; she could definitely go on longer than Shikamaru. We have to find a way to defeat her quickly!"

Ino bit her lip with worry as she watched Shikamaru and Fuyumi's aggressive shadow dance. She was truly worried now; Shikamaru was engaged in battle with Fuyumi and she appeared to match him in skill, and outmatch him in stamina. Neji was out of action, unable to do anything except mimic every move that Fuyumi made. Ino had thought about using her signature jutsu, but it was too risky…

"Neji, I can't use my Mind Transfer technique, she's way too fast and there's also a chance I could hit Shikamaru instead"

He glared at her, mustering as much contempt as he could whilst leaping around.

"Then do something else! Anything else! Temari is currently in hiding for whatever reason and Shikamaru will tire out soon; make yourself useful for once!"

Ino flinched at this, but realised that he was right… She remembered Temari's words as they set off from Konoha that morning… '_what's his intention, bringing you on this mission with us? You're likely to get hurt or get in the way'. _She had always been the weakest of her team, and she had tried to ignore that fact, pretend that she knew what she was doing; she was a fool.

Fuyumi kicked off the ground, rising high into the air and merged all the tendrils of her shadow to create one big wave; which she aimed straight at Shikamaru; the force of it broke through his defences; his eyes widened in surprise.

"Death-Sleep Blanket!" she cackled as the shadow closed in on Shikamaru; wrapping him in a cocoon of obsidian darkness. He fell to the ground, struggling furiously in the inky trap; which seemed to constrict on him. Fuyumi laughed her insane laugh again, clutching her hands to her chest in glee.

"Oh, how ironic! The Shadowmancer killed by the very techniques that he himself uses; this is delicious!"

Ino could here choking gasps coming from inside the dark blanket. Shikamaru couldn't breathe.

"INO, DO SOMETHING!" yelled Neji, beside himself with anger.

She snapped out of her frozen state and charged towards the Nara traitor with her blue eyes alive with fury; this girl had to pay for harming Shikamaru! She ripped a scroll from the pocket of her skirt, opening it wide in front of her.

"Fire-Style: Blinding Sun!" she screamed; pouring all the chakra she could muster into her attack. There was a flash of light so bright that the whole world seemed to turn pure white; even Ino who had closed her eyes felt pain as the light penetrated her eyelids. Fuyumi's howl of pain told her she had hit her mark, but she had also got Neji, because she heard him scream too. It was unfortunate, but Ino had known the only way to break the jutsu was to make a light so bright that it swallowed up the darkness. Opening her eyes again, she realised that she could see perfectly fine, and had a moment to take in the scene; Shikamaru had leaped to his feet and was some way away, gasping for breath against a fallen tree, Neji had been released by the Shadow Possession jutsu but was stumbling slightly, clutching at his sensitive eyes. Temari was still nowhere to be seen, and Ino felt a stab of anger, wondering what she was playing at. Fuyumi was close to her now; and had turned to face Ino, obviously having trouble focusing.

"You little bitch!" snarled Fuyumi; turning her Shadow Sewing Technique on Ino, who leaped back, frantically trying to figure out her next move. She didn't have one. Shit.

"Vengeance Shadow Spear!"

So fast she barely saw it, a pointed lance of shadow struck her square in the side, knocking the wind right out of her and sending a spurt of blood onto the battlefield.

"Ugh!" she grunted and landed heavily on the ground. There was no time to be complacent however, as she rolled to avoid the next strike that punched into the ground where she'd just been. Leaping to her feet, she dashed as fast as she could, keeping her movements erratic so that Fuyumi couldn't predict where she would go; but the stabbing pain in her side made her slow; and Shikamaru looked up just in time to see the lance strike her a second time just below the first.

Anger flared in him, and he rammed his serpentine shadow towards Fuyumi as hard as he could, which she only just dodged in time.

"Your fight is with me, traitor!"

Another round of shadow-tag ensued, but this time, Shikamaru was gaining the upper hand, his rage for his injured team mate spurred him on, lending him reserves of chakra he didn't know he had. Fuyumi was being tested to her limits now, and she knew that she had to end this quickly. Her nephew was stronger than she expected, and perhaps those rumours she'd heard about him defeating a member of the Akatsuki were true. But she would end this now. Once again; she fired herself into the air, giving her a few precious seconds to make her move.

"Shadow Endgame Technique" she growled; snaking a tendril of shadow around Shikamaru's ankle and slamming him to the ground. She had already drawn a scroll; arching it high over her head. "This is the end, Weapon Summoning: Singing Death!"

A huge cloud of shuriken rose up from the scroll, whistling sinisterly as they dove straight for the fallen man. There was no way of avoiding it. Time seemed to freeze as Neji, finally able to see again watched in horror. Ino desperately tried to run towards him, but she was too far away. Shikamaru thought nothing as the weapons screamed towards him, preparing to be torn to pieces by shredding steel.

"No"

All around him he heard the dull _thunk_ of the blades sinking into the grass; and strangely, a high-pitched _ching_ of metal on metal. He felt no pain; only the warm, wet splatter of blood on his face. Was he that badly damaged! Cautiously, he opened his eyes, and realised that he was in the shadow of something large and crescent shaped. A fan.

"Temari!" he choked, as the realisation hit him; and there she was, on the ground next to him in a pool of crimson that glinted mockingly in the sunlight, her flesh torn in many places from the shuriken attack.

"Temari, what the Hell have you done?"

She opened an eye blearily, which stood out sparkling blue against her blood splattered face, a half-grin pulled at her lips.

"Saved your life… again"

She coughed weakly.

"You ruined my… plan… I was… preparing… some…thing"

His eyes were still wide with shock as he pressed a finger to her lips, shaking his head in horror.

"Don't talk now. Please… hold on; I will finish this now"

Tearing his eyes away from his broken team mate, he stared down Fuyumi, his hot anger of before now replaced with an icy fury. Temari's life depended on him finishing this battle quickly.

Ino herself was injured, so there was going to be a limited amount she could do without Soldier Pills, which Shikamaru was carrying in his own backpack, abandoned by the tree.

"Ino…" he barked, never taking his eyes off Fuyumi. "Get over here as soon as you can and start healing Temari"

She was already running as fast as she could, having healed her own wounds sufficiently to get moving again. Neji followed her, looking in Shikamaru's direction, mouthing the word: _trap_.  
The shadow user nodded, immediately recognising which strategy Neji was referencing. He trusted Neji to tell the plan to the Ino also, and to strike when it was time to strike. Fuyumi watched him, her mouth curving in a smile that plainly relished the bloodshed she had caused.

"What a shame I got your girlfriend instead of you, Shikamaru… although I will enjoy tasting her blood later. It smells so delicious"

Shikamaru's eyes suddenly took on an almost psychotic expression.

"You may have just murdered my friend. It is time for you to die"

Temari's half closed eyes became wet, but she screwed them shut, biting her lip through the pain of her body. '_My friend'_… not: 'my team mate', but '_my friend'_…

"…Shika…maru…!" she whispered.

She knew that there was not much time left; her strength was beginning to ebb. When she'd acted she had done so almost without conscious thought; but there was one thing she knew, Temari was glad she had. There had been no time to think of a counter move, only enough time to manoeuvre herself in front of him, to take the blow and ensure that he could live to finish their enemy.

Shikamaru was already forming seals with his hands; ones she vaguely recognised. He yanked a shuriken from the ground and used it to slice his palm; slamming his palm down on the ground as he landed in a crouching position.

"Summoning Technique: Barrage of Antlers"

Dozens of deer seemed to appear from thin air, leaping over the prone figure of Shikamaru to charge at Fuyumi; their sharp horns pointing towards her.

"What the…?" she tried her best to avoid the oncoming rush but there was too many of them. They slammed into her from all sides and she spun around, losing her orientation. A blow was landed to her face; and then, she saw a dark blur as Shikamaru delivered a powerful kick to her chest, sending her flying into the air.

"INO!" yelled Shikamaru over the baying of his summoned deer.

Ino leaped up from tending to Temari, stretching out a blue-coloured scroll on the ground beneath her, stomping her foot in the centre of it.

"Water-Style: Prison Vortex!" she called; at her command, a swirling pillar of water rose up around Fuyumi, catching her in the air before she hit the ground, sending her spiralling.

"NEJI!" bellowed Shikamaru. "Finish it!"

Neji sprang up into the air; tackling Fuyumi through the swirling pillar and knocking them both out into the air again.

"Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms" smirked Neji; slamming his chakra into his foe as breakneck speed; and then delivering a roundhouse kick to send her slamming hard into the ground.

Shikamaru appeared at Fuyumi's side, and she looked up with her eyes wide in terror.

"Y… you!" she stammered. "You could never lead the clan as well as I could, you will not live; Sasuke will finish you. You will beg for death!"

He spat at her feet.

"I do not take threats from someone who is about to die…"

Fuyumi's eyes flashed in fear, and she made an attempt to get to her feet; Shikamaru slammed his knee into her face.

"This is for clan Nara; may you never cause trouble for us again…"

He raised his hand out in front of him as his shadow elongated into one, thin tendril.

"Shadow Endgame Technique"

He closed his fist, and the shadow hardened and pointed into a spike. "Vengeance Shadow Spear"

It struck fast and true, plunging through the skull of the Nara traitor; causing her eyes to lose their spark of life and her body to fall with a soft _thump_ at his feet.

Drained of energy, he took a moment to catch his breath before sprinting to his pack, and then running flat out back to where the other three were; wordlessly he shook out the Soldier Pills from his pack and shoved them at Ino, who took one without looking up from her healing.

"She doesn't look good" muttered Neji. "She took heavy damage from those shuriken, if it was you Shikamaru, you'd be dead by now"

He nodded, and took hold of Temari's hand.

"Ino, how is she doing?"

"I'm doing all I can" she stammered, sweating profusely and trembling with effort. "There are so many wounds…"

She heard his voice, and opened an eye once more.

"Shika… you got her? I feel… so… cold"

He nodded, staring wordlessly into her eyes, with a steadfast expression that clearly said: don't you dare give up.  
Ino was panting now, and with the added power of the Soldier Pills, had forced all of her remaining chakra into healing Temari's wounds. Now, her flesh was remarkably clear, with just a few open wounds remaining, and a lot of mostly healed scratches.

"It's the blood loss that is the problem, Shikamaru… I hope she has the strength…"

"Of course….!" Temari said indignantly. "I… am…. not even… tired…"

At this her eyes closed heavily and her body went limp.

The other three froze in horror for a moment, leaning closer to her bloody face; their hearts almost faltering.

And then they saw her chest rise and fall, and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, we have to get moving now" ordered Shikamaru, suddenly businesslike again as he handed a Soldier Pill to Neji and took one himself. "We're going to find somewhere we can rest; it's getting dark and the air is cold, like it's going to rain soon…"

Shikamaru knelt down and picked up Temari, she was surprisingly light and felt rather fragile. Her head tipped onto his chest, and from his viewpoint he could see her delicate eyelashes casting the finest of shadows over her cheeks.

Neji hauled her gigantic fan into his arms and looked pointedly at Ino.

"You know what" he said musingly. "I was right this morning. Blood had been spilled on this day".

"Oh for the love of the Gods, will you shut your trap Neji!"

The other two kept arguing quietly as they started off, but Shikamaru was silent, mulling over their battle and reflecting upon how close Temari had come to death. To save him… He was kind of mad about that actually, and couldn't wait until she woke up so he could talk some sense into her.

*****Omg, my hands are actually in pain right now… It was a difficult chapter to write, I haven't really written a battle scene before. How was it? Uhm… it took ages… I really hope you enjoy it; also I made up most of these jutsu's myself with the exception of Neji's techniques, Ino's Mind Transfer, and a few of the Shadow ones that are in the manga/anime.**

All Naruto Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

**Except Nara Fuyumi who is mine ^_^;;**

PLEASE REVIEW, it means a lot. xxx ***


	4. Eye of the Tornado

The Darkest Shadow

Chapter Four: Eye of the Tornado

The promised rain came just before nightfall, a relief for the weary group of ninja who were tired and sore from battle. Cool raindrops on their faces washed away the blood and dirt from their previous fight and doused the frantic fire within their souls. Shikamaru and the others had stopped by a cluster of old trees: four of them twisted together with their leaves forming a large, though slightly leaky roof over their heads.

"It's perfect!" sighed Ino, flopping onto the soft, mossy ground in the centre of the trees. Neji propped Temari's fan against one of the large trunks, and dropped his pack down next to it; rubbing at his neck and frowning.

"It's getting cold, but at least it's very sheltered here"

Shikamaru shoved Ino with his foot until she got up with an indignant expression before laying the still-sleeping Temari down in the centre of the moss; though she was light, he had carried her for many miles and his shoulders were killing him.

"Urgh… Don't get comfortable yet, Ino… I need you and Neji to collect firewood and water- there's a stream a little south of here"

Ino folded her arms and glared at him.

"Why do you get to stay here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ahhh… it's a pain, but I have to set a few minor chakra detection traps. I'm not letting us get caught out again"

Ino noticed that he looked a little strained and his voice sounded as though it was an effort for him to talk, she felt a prickling of concern for him, and put her hand on his arm.

"Listen, I think you should lie down, you look exhausted and you did use the most chakra today"

He flashed a cheery smile, ruffling her hair.

"Nah, I'm a bit tired but safety is my top priority: Go now, I'll want some tea soon…"

She sighed, nodded, then turned around, picking up the kettle as she went off to get some water from the nearby stream. Neji followed her more slowly, stifling a yawn as he left to search for firewood.

Shikamaru grabbed a blanket from his pack and threw it over Temari before walking around the camp in a circle and slapping his palm once upon each of the trees; which left a trace of his chakra. It was a simple jutsu, but those traces would flare up if someone of malicious intent strayed near, alerting Shikamaru to their presence immediately. Even this small effort left him drained, and he stumbled, pressing his back to the hard, earthy smelling tree-trunk; his knees buckled beneath him and he slid down to sit on the soft ground. His fingers massaged his temples and he let out a huge sigh. The battle had been won, but he had been so careless. Any one of them could have been killed… Maybe he really wasn't cut out for this…

"What's the matter with you? You're not injured" intoned a quiet, but hard-edged voice, interrupting his thoughts.

Shikamaru's eyes found Temari's; she had sat up and was now watching him curiously, she looked well enough except for the scratches all along her forearms. Ino had only been able to heal the more serious gashes.

"Tired" he grunted, avoiding her eye.

She frowned, sensing his annoyance. Temari wondered what on earth he had to be annoyed about; they had survived the battle with his crazy aunt, he himself had only survived due to her sacrifice. He had yet to acknowledge that. She was about to open her mouth to say this before he beat her to it.

"Why did you do something like that? You almost got yourself killed! I told you that you shouldn't do anything rash…". His narrow eyes flashed angrily at her, which made her insides boil with injustice: how dare he get mad at her!

"I did it to save your goddamn life; you retard. How the Hell are you angry with me; you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me! Unh!"

She flinched as a stabbing pain shot through her side. Temari clapped her hand to it and bit her lip. Shikamaru was immediately concerned and was beside her before she could blink.

"Let me see" he demanded, reaching for the hem of her shirt.

She slapped his hand away and tried to wriggle back, a mortified look on her face. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, clearly bemused by this action.

"Get lost, pervert! I'm not taking my shirt off for you…"

He couldn't help it; laughter sprung into his chest and he watched her with great amusement, realising how it must have looked.

"No, no… That's not what I meant. I just wanted to know if you were alright"

"Yeah, right… _sure_…" she was eyeing him with distaste; still angry with him. A cold wind made her shiver and she clutched the blanket tightly around her, but it was no use. Shikamaru sighed again, and with an action so sudden she had no time to react to it; pulled her onto his lap.

"What are you doing?" she yelped, feeling another spasm of pain in her side.

"It's troublesome, but if you get too cold your condition will deteriorate. This is all I've got until Neji gets back with firewood… Please just don't hit me or anything, I promise I won't grope you"

She stared at him incredulously for a few moments, then shrugged and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He felt very warm, so she supposed that it wasn't _too_ bad. Shikamaru yawned and leaned his own head against the tree behind them, closing his eyes and listening to the soft raindrops hitting the many layers of leaves. It was like a symphony of natural life; flowing and gentle. Temari listened too, but could hear the low undertone of Shikamaru's heartbeat underneath the patter of the rain.

"Listen, I'm sorry I made you mad at me" Temari said finally. "I didn't really think about what I was doing; just that you needed to live. The mission needed you…"  
_  
I needed you…_

Through her whole life she had been constantly moving, constantly fighting and constantly running. She had never had a friend before, only allies and enemies… and enemies were the once she had trusted more, at least you knew where you stood with them. Allies were temporary, and you never knew when one would stab you in the back, sometimes literally. Shikamaru was somehow different from anyone she'd met. He was so calm and passive, and at first this had annoyed her- but now she had grown fond of it. Being with him was like being in the shadow of a great tree: tranquil and relaxing, as though the world ceased to be a hurricane of panicked colours. The split second during that battle where she'd thought she'd lose him; it had sent a thrill of fear through her strong enough that it moved her into that position between him and the blades. Temari sighed softly, and a smile crept to her lips.

"That's what friends do, isn't it? Look out for each other?"

For a while he was silent, and she began to think he'd already fallen asleep.

"Thank you" he murmured eventually, moving his head so that his chin rested against the top of her hair. His voice was soft, sincere and slightly melancholy; which sparked emotion in her, before she knew it, her eyes welled up with tears. She blinked them back furiously though, she didn't cry. Not ever.

"Hnn… Just don't make me have to do it again…"

"Heh, don't worry, I… are you… crying?" he asked incredulously, having caught her in the act of slyly trying to wipe her eyes on her hand.

"No. Shut the Hell up, I was just rubbing it because I'm tired!"

He grabbed her chin and turned her head to face him.

"You are!"

"So what if I was?"

"Did I upset you?"

"No. I was just thinking about something"

"Was it me?"

"No"

"I bet it was"

"Shut the fuck up, Shikamaru"

"Why don't you make me, silly woman?"

She grabbed hold of his ear and twisted it; making him yelp and jerk forwards, pinning her to the ground and making him hit his forehead off hers.

"Crazy bitch!"

"Clumsy fool!"

They stared at each other, realising what an awkward position they were in, her body underneath him felt soft, and unbearably fragile- And she couldn't help but notice that she was surrounded by his smell; it was like sweat and earth and pine… They stayed frozen like this for a minute or more before a scuffling sound alerted them to another's presence.

"Oh, I'm sorry; am I interrupting something?" growled Ino, standing with her arms folded tightly and a thunderous look on her face.

Shikamaru felt a pang of fear rush through him at her expression; he had rarely seen such a deadly glare in his life.

"What? No! Are you crazy?" he leaped off Temari, who raised her eyebrows at his reaction. Obviously, this boy did not like the idea of facing Ino's wrath…

"By all means, finish what you were doing!" she went on, ignoring Shikamaru's pleas of innocence. "But you could have at least had the courtesy to wait until the rest of us were asleep"

At that, she turned and stormed off back the way she'd come, once again feeling anger towards her friend. However, this was also accompanied by hurt, and jealousy which she did not understand or expect. She didn't know why, all she knew was that she could not stand to be around them both.

As she disappeared, Temari sat up and pouted.

"Wow, _someone's_ a little hormonal today…"

Shikamaru slapped his palm to his face, and shook his head before running after Ino without a word. He really wasn't having much luck today, he reflected. As well as making a total mess of the battle earlier, he was now unwittingly involved in the most deadly game of politics in the world; disagreement between women. They were so troublesome, women. All his intelligence in battle and strategy counted for nothing in these situations.

"Hey!" he shouted, catching up with Ino and grabbing her arm. "What's the matter with you? You're completely over-reacti-"

"Are you giving out kisses to _all _the women who saved your ass today, Shikamaru?" she demanded hotly. "Or do you just have a complete lack of self-control when it comes to older women?"

He held up his hands in front of him as if in surrender, his eyes widening a little.

"Nothing happened! You're making a big deal out of nothing!"

"Oh really? This is a mission, stupid. Why don't you behave in a professional manner instead of acting like a horny teenage boy?"

She was squaring up to him now, her hands on her hips and her face staring intently up at him; although she was shorter than he was, Shikamaru was still wary; he remembered all too well the power in her arms.

"Why do you even care?" he demanded defensively, trying to gain some leverage in the argument to avoid being shouted down by her.

Ino was struck dumb. _Why do you even care? _The question reverberated in her head; her will faltering… She didn't know…

"I… I don't!" she replied with as much conviction as she could muster. "It's just that you're letting her seduce you with her crafty ways!"

"No-one's seducing anyone!" he said, exasperated by Ino's total disregard for what he was saying. "You're being ridiculous, for the love of the Gods; get a hold of yourself!"

Ino drew her arm back and attempted to strike him across the face, but Shikamaru was ready and caught her wrist. He didn't know what had gotten into her today, but he was tired of her acting so aggressive when she had no need to. His eyes found hers, and she noticed that they were harsh, which caused her a small pang of pain.

"Just stop" he said quietly. "You're making a fool of yourself"

Her arm was yanked out of his grasp and she turned away from him, walking slowly back towards the stream where she'd gotten the kettle water earlier.

"Leave me alone" she muttered, almost choking on her words; and then sprinted away out of his sight.

Shikamaru groaned inwardly. Why did he always do the wrong thing when it came to girls…? He had seen her hurt expression before she'd turned away, and heard it in her voice; though he knew that she wouldn't want to talk to him. Hurting Ino was not what he'd wanted, just for her to calm down… But he'd done it now and the guilt prickled at his conscience. He genuinely didn't understand her anger, but he was starting to think that he was getting far too much attention from girls. It was definitely trouble, and he wasn't convinced that it was even worth that. Back at the camp, Temari had fallen asleep again, so Shikamaru leaped into the branches of one of the large trees, leaning back against the rough bark; he opened his mind to the sounds of the forest intending to lose himself to the symphony of the rain and the wind and the noises of the night. He was completely exhausted and didn't want to have to think anymore. Sweet unconsciousness of sleep, he wished for it to take him now. Part of him knew he should stay awake, but he could no longer fight the weariness in his body…

Ino had found a relatively dry spot on top of an old log in the shade of a hunched over tree; her head was in her hands and her eyes dripped tears of bitterness. Shikamaru had hurt her again and she didn't know how long she could stand this… Her mind seemed to be in two halves; part of her hated Shikamaru, and thought longingly of the moment where she would meet Sasuke again, where he would kiss her and hold her; and Shikamaru would be sorry, because he was wrong. However… the stronger part at this moment was just hurt, feeling the throbbing pain of being disregarded by someone she cared so much for. She hated arguing seriously with her oldest friend, and it was made worse by the fact that she was jealous of his attention towards Temari. It had hit her suddenly and fiercely when she'd seen him lying on top of Temari like that. It was confusing… she didn't think of Shikamaru like that, did she? Ino loved Sasuke, didn't she? … For a moment, she imagined herself in Temari's place, picturing Shikamaru's weight against her, his warm skin touching hers, the smell of earth and pine surrounding her… Then she shook her head, blushing furiously. No. No, she hadn't just felt a surge of heat in her belly. It was so wrong…

"Ino"

She flinched at the sound of that calm, cool voice; wished she could disappear. Next to Shikamaru and Temari, Neji was the last person she wanted to see right now. Ino made no reply, hoping futilely that he wouldn't notice her. A few seconds later, she felt him sit on the fallen tree next to her; making no move to speak. Neji just sat there, staring at the river which was gushing and bubbling a few feet away. At night, it acted like a mirror, reflecting the soft, frantic moonlight that cast shadows upon all the dark things of the night.

"It was a smart move, using that Blinding Sun jutsu" he said, as though they had already been in the middle of a conversation. "If you had not thought of that, I think we would have been in a much worse state than we are right now"

Ino looked around at him, rubbing her eyes and sniffing quietly. He wasn't looking at her, but he had a slight smile on his face; which was a welcome change from his usual grimace.

"Thanks?" she said, at a loss of what else to say. She was still trying to figure out why he had arbitrarily decided to come and talk to her.

"I only wish I had not been caught so early… It is embarrassing to think that I did so little for the team in that fight". He sighed, and then let out a little chuckle. "However, I was impressed to see that I was right to trust in the other members. We work well together, when it counts… Don't you think?"

She nodded, still a little uncomfortable talking to Neji; he was one of those people who you could never really be sure of, since he was usually pretty abrasive and cold. It was rather surprising that he was being nice to her right now… Ino was just waiting for him to say something sarcastic or ambiguous.

"A two-headed snake" he said suddenly "will always be in conflict with itself when those brains both have different desires. It will bite itself, and hiss and fight… but this is no way for it to live. Somehow they must learn to co-operate"

Neji stood up and held out his hand.

"Now, we must go back to the camp and get some rest. You know how Shikamaru likes to start early in the mornings… I've always thought that odd, considering how he is so lazy…"

Ino sat there for a moment, completely bemused. One minute he was talking about snakes, the next he was acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet then began walking through the wet forest. Ino followed him, trying to ponder what he could mean by using such an odd metaphor. For his part, Neji looked to the stars in the great expanse of inky sky. Night was his favourite hour, when he could see all those tiny pinpricks of light. He thought about the great expanse of the universe and his tiny little part in it. He used to think that his life was completely insignificant, and that he lived it only for himself, to experience the life he was given. However… now he wondered whether this view was wrong; perhaps individual destinies had more impact on the world than he had thought. Single people could change the course of events in the world, and he hoped he could be one of them. The North Star glinted in the dark, right above him. The journey they had started was sure to be perilous, but at least they had one beautiful celestial guide…

***** Haha, I think girls cause Shikamaru more stress than fighting enemies does... A break from danger, but not from drama. Perhaps the synergy of the fight was just a fluke. Can there four _really_ get on and function as a team? What will happen when Ino, Temari and Shikamaru have to face each other in the morning?**

PLEASE REVIEW! I love reading them!

Characters (C) Masashi Kishimoto; story is mine ;D ***


	5. Our Secret Hearts

The Darkest Shadow

Chapter Five: Our Secret Hearts

At the forest's edge, a ninja sped along the fringe of the trees, darting so fast the eye could barely follow. She was a little bruised and bloodied from battle, but her biggest loss was that of chakra. Fuyumi stopped dead on a rotten trunk that hung half into the pathetic, muddy lake that lay on the border of The Land of Wind. She sighed heavily and sat down to rest, reflecting on her battle the previous day. The Leaf village had sent out a good squad, she thought… But she was convinced that they were not good enough to beat Sasuke. Neji, the Hyuga's prodigal son had not shown very much aptitude in her view, allowing himself to get caught so early in battle. Fuyumi smirked. If this was all the Hyuga clan had to offer, then she should not be very worried. The Yamanaka girl was mightily unimpressive as well, although she had used scrolls to good effect, she was obviously very weak in the body, and would be easy to take out. The Sand princess; well… Fuyumi had not seen her much in battle and so she was a bit of an unknown entity, but from the looks of it, her weakness was Shikamaru. Ah, the most impressive was by far her nephew. She had been both surprised and angered to find that he showed an amazing mastery over their clan's Shadow Jutsus, awareness of all his team members and a fiery spirit…

That had not been enough to finish her though; she was disappointed actually, they had been so very careless. During those few seconds when everybody was focused on Shikamaru, she had made a Shadow-Mirror Twin; more complicated than the Shadow Doppelganger technique because it was sturdier and required using a lock of one's own hair to even initiate the jutsu. Only one could be created at a time, but it consumed half the remaining chakra and could withstand a lot of punishment… although it faded after a while. She stretched out her arms behind her head. If little Shika-chan were to go back to that clearing, all he would find was a clump of red hair, which had probably already been washed away by the rain. All in all, her scouting mission had gone well. Her main objective had been to check if the Leaf had sent out a team, and then to work out the abilities of those within it. Sasuke was bound to know more than she did about the strengths and weaknesses of his old classmates… Still, she was curious about why the Hokage had only sent a squad of four… It was a bad move, a very bad move. They overestimated themselves; it would be fatal.

Fuyumi groaned in tiredness as she got up. All she wanted was to sleep, but she couldn't. Her master was awaiting her return, and he was less than half a mile away now. Sprinting through the trees, her thoughts wandered; mostly she wondered what Sasuke's grand plan was. He was too smart to make an assault on the Hokage, or even a full-scale war on the Leaf… She shrugged mentally, and decided to put it down as one of his eccentric ploys; he probably had a plan. Whether he'd tell her or not was a different story… By now she could feel his chakra, and took on a sombre expression. Fuyumi respected Sasuke greatly, yet he struck fear into her heart every time she laid eyes on him. His cold, calculating mind was unchangeable when it was set on a goal- he killed with an unemotional expression that scared her. Not triumph, not torment, not vengeance, not even bloodlust… just indifference. She almost felt sorry for those children of the Leaf… almost.

* * *

"Ahhhhhh…" sighed Shikamaru, a look of deep satisfaction on his face.

Neji raised an eyebrow, sliding into the clear water of the river beside him and then running his hands through his hair.

"Don't do anything weird in here, Nara…" he said, eyeing him suspiciously.

Shikamaru shot him a glare, and dunked his head under the water, returning to the surface with his wet hair flowing onto his shoulders.

"Ch!... Don't be an ass, Neji; I'm just glad to be able to clean up… Shame it's not as good as the hot springs though… Mind you there's something extremely tranquil about being this close to nature"

Neji crossed his arms and leaned against the grassy bank, letting his iridescent silver eyes scan around the area. They were bathing at the bend of the river which was shadowed by several overhanging trees; the sunlight filtered delicately through them, sending dappled light upon them. The air was thick with the rich smells of flowers and punctuated by birdsong; it was like a small paradise.

"It is very peaceful" he acknowledged, closing his eyes as the sun warmed up his skin. "You must be glad to get away from those two"

Shikamaru flinched, sinking low into the water as his eyes scanned the river banks, seemingly afraid to find someone there.

"Ugh. What do you mean?"

"It's obvious, you are rather jumpy this morning" said Neji in a somewhat amused tone. "Can it be because there are two kunoichi fighting over you?"

His Captain stared at him as though Neji had just sprouted another head.

"Listen" he began, pointing accusingly at Neji. "Those two have clashing personalities and they're just looking for an excuse to argue with each other; isn't wanting the attention of their leader as good an excuse as any?"

Neji looked witheringly at him.

"You are a smart guy, Shikamaru…but you really have no knowledge of what women are really like…"

"Do _you_?" he demanded.

Neji looked slightly uncomfortable, and turned away from him.

"A little… but… relationships are not a priority with me, and they are far too intrusive and restricting, I wouldn't want to have one"

"Well there's a surprise…" Shikamaru said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. "Maybe you shouldn't give out advice if-"

Suddenly Neji was beside him, covering Shikamaru's mouth with his hand.  
"Shh!" he muttered in a low voice.

Shikamaru was incensed, and tried to struggle away from him; wondering what on earth he was playing at.

Then he heard an unmistakeably female voice from the other side of the bend.

"Yes, it seems warm enough" came Ino's voice, accompanied by the sloshing of water. "Maybe colder for you since you're used to Suna's heat…"

"Hnn… I'll get used to it" replied an irritated Temari.

Shikamaru froze, realizing that he was only a few metres away from Temari and Ino. _Naked_. With another, more unpleasant realization, he remembered that he was only a few centimetres away from Neji. _Also naked_. He flinched and elbowed Neji away from him with a panicked expression, then caught his eye.

"Should we get out of here, or what?" he whispered.

Neji was staring fixatedly in the direction that the voices had come from.

"Neji!" came Shikamaru's indignant voice. "Are you peeping at them with your Byakugan?"

"No, I can't see any of the "good bits" when I use Byakugan; only outlines, chakra flow, organs etcetera" he turned back to Shikamaru with a smirk. "A woman's ribcage and pelvis are not as sexy as you might think…"

"Ch…" murmured Shikamaru, feeling a little too warm and slightly embarrassed. "We should go back to the camp and discuss what to do about Sasuke…"

Neji was still smirking at him, and it was starting to get on his nerves. Shikamaru glared at him as if to say: what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you?

"You want to see, don't you?" said Neji.

"No way!"

"Really...?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm not Naruto…"

"Please" snorted Neji. "You forget, I can see your slightly-faster heartbeat, and that curious way your eyes keep flicking in the direction of the river bend. Despite your reputation as the cool, calm, unshakeable Nara Shikamaru… you're still a man. And like all men, you are weak to the charms of womanhood…"

Shikamaru sighed in defeat, looking at Neji with a guilty glint in his eyes.

"When you put it that way…"

Ino enjoyed the pure, clean water rushing through her fingers and her toes. It felt good to be rid of the dirt, sweat and bloodstains that were their souvenirs of their meeting with Nara Fuyumi. She was still a little annoyed that Shikamaru hadn't told her about that fiasco before, but she supposed it was a dishonourable stain on his clan that could never be erased, and he might not like talking about it. Ino was sitting in the shallows of the river, with her hair down and flowing around her waist like liquid gold, but Temari was still in the deeper part, with only her head and shoulders visible. It was strange, she had made Ino look away when she got in. She had never pictured Temari to be the self-conscious type…

Temari watched the progress of a butterfly which was fluttering between the leaves above her; she wasn't really in the mood to talk much, especially not to Ino. She was a little put off by her explosion of rage the previous night, and didn't want another argument at that moment. The water felt good against her skin though, soothing the aches and pains of the wounds and waking her up a little. Her mind wandered back to that moment with Shikamaru; and her cheeks felt a little warm, remembering how his body had felt against her own. She had seen something in his eyes then, a tenderness that she wished to recapture… it made her long to be within his arms again. Temari pictured his face; exhausted by the battle, tortured by the near loss of his team mates, and worried about what was to come. It reminded her of that time long ago when he'd come back from the mission to retrieve Sasuke; all of his team mates were seriously injured and he had only a broken finger. He had wanted to give up then, but after being smacked down to reality by his father and seeing that everyone would survive… he had cried. Beautiful, vulnerable, and heartfelt tears. Shikamaru was an emotional person; but for him it wasn't a weakness. He gains his strength from his determination to protect the people he loves… Temari sighed softly, knowing that Shikamaru had somehow found a weakness in her heart's defences, and he didn't even know it. She swirled her hand around in the water, smiling as she thought this; but that smile was gone in an instant when she felt a sharp pain in her hand.

"What the…?" she yelled, leaping into the shallows as the shadow of a rather large and rather grumpy fish disappeared around the corner.

"Are you alright?" asked Ino, looking up from her own thoughts.

Her eyes widened as she spotted Temari in front of her; now she realised why she had been made to look away earlier. The sand kunoichi's body was covered in scars of various age and severity. They criss-crossed her stomach, back and chest, interrupting her golden toned skin with sharp white lines. She had indeed had a hard, cruel life… yet although the trauma to her body would indicate violence, it somehow made her seem more fragile, and terribly beautiful. Although Temari acted like it, she was not indestructible, and Ino felt a little humbled, crossing her arms over her own soft and unmarked breasts.

Temari glared at Ino, taking on a slightly aggressive stance.

"Quit staring at me"

Ino looked away, sighing and running her fingers through her hair. Although she didn't like Temari very much, and although she felt that she was aggressive and somewhat arrogant and pushy… There was something that she had to say to her, although she felt like by saying it, she was acknowledging a softening in her feelings towards her.

"Thank you, Temari" she said, her voice sincere. "Thank you for saving Shika-kun's life. If you hadn't; all of us would have been doomed".

Surprised by this, Temari was stunned into silence for a few moments, realising that Ino was not antagonising her in the slightest. She smiled a little.

"Thank you for saving my life. I know I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't been there to heal me"

Ino looked around and her eyes met Temari's. For a few seconds, each set of blue-shaded orbs were sparkling with a bond of kinship, then Temari grinned fiendishly.

"However, that does make us even"

"I still don't like you…"

"And I still want to kick your bimbo ass"

"Don't count on it, Temi-chan"

Temari's eyes suddenly flashed dangerously, and she plunged her hand into the water, whipping out a stone from the river bed and flinging it hard through the bushes on the bend of the river- from the other side came a loud yelp.

"I know you're there, perverts!" snarled Temari, grabbing Ino's wrist and dragging her over to the bushes to peer through.

"Oh…"

They found themselves looking at a very confused and startled fox who was pawing at a bloody scrape on its head. It whined in terror and bolted as soon as it spotted the two kunoichi.

"False alarm…"

"Poor Kitsune-chan…" giggled Ino. "He didn't expect that"

"Neither did I…" muttered Temari, her eyes flickering suspiciously around the clearing. "Let's hurry back to the camp…"

Neji sat cross-legged on in the centre of the camp, watching Shikamaru as he drank jasmine tea. The shadow user eventually looked up, disconcerted by the penetrating stare of the Hyuga's most genius cadet-branch member.

"What?"

"You didn't look even though you wanted to. I'll admit, my respect for you has risen somewhat"

Shikamaru's face looked rather blank and dazed as he sniffed in the delicious aroma of the tea.

"Just because I don't give in to my animal urges does not make me anything more than I already was. You didn't do it either…"

"True" he nodded. "But at least now you can prove to Ino that she was wrong yesterday when she started ranting about you being a "horny teenage boy"… Although… you probably shouldn't tell her you almost did it…"

"Almost did what?" asked Ino as she and Temari walked back into the camp, dressed in their clothes once again with their hair still slightly damp.

"Almost lost that jasmine tea you packed for me" said Shikamaru quickly, ignoring Temari's suspicious glare. "Did you two girls sleep well?"

Temari nodded and Ino shook her head, avoiding Shikamaru's eye. He noticed this and he sighed, realising it was time for some damage control. He stood up and stretched his back, handing his cup of tea to Neji.

"Alright, I want you to check Temari over with your Byakugan, Neji: make sure all of her injuries are fine and that there's no lasting damage. I have to ask Ino about something, so we'll be gone for five minutes or so"

Gesturing for Ino to follow him, he walked off a little way into the forest.

Temari's eyes flicked back to Neji's with a frown.

"This Byakugan of yours… tell me the truth; it's just a jutsu created for staring at girls' breasts beneath their clothes, right?"

Neji placed the tea down on the ground and got to his feet with a sly grin on his face.

"Of course not; but I _can_ see right through you…Byakugan!"

Temari squirmed under his stare, her cheeks flushing red; unaware that Neji was just toying with her.

After a few minutes, Shikamaru stopped and turned to Ino, who was looking down at her feet, unsure as to whether she really wanted to be there. She looked rather dejected and Shikamaru couldn't help but feel annoyed with himself for putting her in this state.

"Ino" he said softly, stepping towards her. "I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to upset you. Please tell me you don't hate me…"

She looked up, her cobalt eyes hesitant and searching Shikamaru's own dark ones. He looked sincerely distressed about having hurt her feelings. Ino sighed, knowing that she couldn't stay mad at her oldest friend.

"It's alright… I don't hate you…" she said, pulling him into a hug and nuzzling under his chin. His neck was warm and the skin there was softer than she had expected.

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed her tightly.

"I'm glad, piggy-chan!" he smiled, calling Ino by his childhood nickname for her. She seemed to enjoy this because she laughed happily and started to play with his ponytail; she had always done this- even after all these years she still found his head's resemblance to a pineapple to be particularly amusing.

"Painappuru..." she sighed, and pressed herself closer to him, breathing in the scent of earth and pine; which was very faint after his dip in the river. Unexpectedly, she thought of herself and Shikamaru, all alone out of the sight of the others and she grew warm. She felt nervous, and his hands on her back felt blazing hot; his face's proximity to hers made her breath falter. _What's wrong with me?_ It felt good, but at the same time wrong… and yet, she wanted to know…

She pulled back a little so that she could look at his face, and he smiled good-naturedly at her. Ino moved her hand to his cheek, and pressed her forehead against his, he felt pleasantly warm.

Shikamaru wondered what she was doing now; it seemed to be soft, amiable movements but he knew of Ino's penchant for playing pranks on him and remembered how past hugs might end up turning into her piggy-back riding him through the streets of Konoha, or on occasion biting his nose just to make him yelp.

As he thought this, she inclined her head and pressed her lips against his, causing his eyes to snap open and stare at her in incredulity; her kiss was soft and she seemed unsure of herself, but he noticed now that her body was pressed against his, he could feel her plump, soft breasts against his own chest._  
_

_How did I not see this coming?_

For a moment he considered giving in to her, because it felt rather good; but remembering Neji's admiration of his self-control, he pushed Ino away from him gently, his cheeks uncharacteristically red.

"What are you doing, Ino?" he demanded weakly.

She took a moment to process his reaction, and then grinned at him; clutching her hands to her chest and looking as cute as possible.

"Sorry Shika-chan!" she said sweetly."I was just giving you a little kiss because I am so glad that you survived that battle; it's the best way I could think of to express how happy I am"

Shikamaru just stared, his expression a combination of panic, incredulity and embarrassment.

"Shika-chan; you look like a fish!" she giggled. "I'm going to go and get breakfast"

At this, she turned and skipped back towards the camp, and Shikamaru slumped back into the trunk of one of the trees.

"How troublesome" he groaned, burying his face in his hands. Shikamaru's head was spinning in confusion, and he imagined Neji's voice: '_you really have no knowledge of what women are really like'._ He was right of course, smarmy bastard… Now he really wasn't sure what was going on… he saw Ino's face right after she kissed him, and then Temari's face as she lay underneath him. Shikamaru seemed to be getting into more and more awkward situations, although it wasn't his fault and he never asked for them. Did being nice to girls make them want to kiss you? Was a girl kissing you a sign of them being nice to you? All he knew was that he never wanted any attention like that; heck… since when did girls even pay him any attention? Since he stopped being a lazy, useless slob and actually started to care about stuff, apparently…

"Ara… I envy the clouds" he sighed, peering through the canopy of the trees. "They are so… genderless…"_  
_

***** Oh my! I hope you lot enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Methinks there's some sexual tension in the air; also- You're surprised that Fuyumi didn't get killed? Come on! She's smarter than that: she's from the Nara clan! xD**

**I'd like to say a HUUUUUGE thank you to all of my readers and reviewers; you guys are epic and it means a lot to me that you enjoy this story and tell me what's good and what to improve on. REVIEW PLEASE. ^_^**

**Naruto & characters © Masashi Kishimoto; except Nara Fuyumi who's mine. *****


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